?**• 


THE  MISSIONARY  HERALD- EXTRA. 


j  H  *  Chittenden 


The  Supreme  Opportunity. 


SAMUEL  B.  CAPEN. 


£ 


Zbc  Missionary  BeralD, 

Published  monthly  by  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions, 

14  Beacon  Street,  Boston. 

Vol.  XCVI.  Subscription,  75  cents.  No.  1  —  January. 

[Entered  at  the  Postoffice  at  Boston,  Mass.,  as  second-class  matter.] 


THE  SUPREME  OPPORTUNITY 


AN  ADDRESS 


TO  THE 


Constituency  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 

Foreign  Missions, 


By  Samuel  b.  capen, 

President  of  the  Board. 


ftbe  /llMssfonars  MeraU), 


Vol.  XCVI. 


Published  monthly  by  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions, 

14  Beacon  Street,  Boston. 

Subscription,  75  cents.  No.  January. 

[Entered  at  the  Postoffice  at  Boston,  Mass.,  as  second-class  matter.] 


extra. 


American  25oar&  of  Commissioner^  for  foreign  Ci^iosionO, 

CONGREGATIONAL  HOUSE,  BOSTON. 

©fficcrs  anil  Committees. 

President.  —  Samuel  B.  Capen.  Vice-President. — D.  Willis  James. 

Corresponding  Secretaries. 

Judson  Smith.  Charles  H.  Daniels.  James  L.  Barton. 

Editorial  Secretary.  —  E.  E.  STRONG.  Treasurer.  —  Frank  H.  WlGGIN. 

Recording  Secretary. —  Henry  A.  Stimson. 

Assistant  Recording  Secretary.  —  Edward  N.  Packard. 


Prudential  Committee. 


Edwin  B.  Webb. 
Charles  C.  Burr. 
Albert  H.  Plumb. 
William  P.  Ellison. 
G.  Henry  Whitcomb. 
J.  M.  W.  Hall. 


William  W.  Jordan. 
Elijah  Horr. 
Charles  A.  Hopkins. 
William  H.  Davis. 
Samuel  C.  Darling. 
Edward  C.  Moore. 


Auditors. 

Edwin  H.  Baker.  Elisha  R.  Brown.  Henry  E.  Cobb. 


&Dbisorp  Committee  for  tlje  jFortoarfc  ^floiiement. 

Lucien  C.  Warner,  New  York  City,  Chairman. 

Howard  S.  Bliss,  Montclair,  N.  J. 

E.  H.  Pitkin,  Chicago,  Ill. 

Joseph  H.  Selden,  Elgin,  Ill. 

H.  H.  Proctor,  Boston. 

E.  R.  Burpee,  Bangor,  Me. 

Charles  R.  Brown,  Oakland,  Cal. 

J.  L.  Barker,  Berkeley,  Cal. 
Luther  D.  Wishard,  Special  Representative. 


Cooperating; 

New  England  District. 

H.  H.  Proctor. 

Wm.  F.  Whittemore. 

E.  R.  Burpee. 

Edward  S.  Tead. 

S:  B.  Shapleigh. 


Committees. 

Middle  District. 

Lucian  C.  Warner. 

Chas.  A.  Hull. 

Howard  S.  Bliss. 

John  F.  Anderson. 

Dyer  B.  Holmes. 


District  of  the  Interior. 

J.  F.  Loba. 

Edward  D.  Eaton. 

E.  H.  Pitkin. 

David  Fales. 

Joseph  H.  Seldon. 


Pacific  District. 

James  L.  Barker. 

W.  W.  Scudder. 

Chas.  R.  Brown. 


Boston,  December  12,  1899. 


To  the  Members  and  Friends  of  the  American  Board 
of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions ; 

Having  accepted  the  presidency  of  the  American  Board  because  I 
believed  it  to  be  not  only  a  trust  laid  upon  me  by  your  votes,  but  also  the  will 
of  God,  I  have  felt  like  being  silent  as  in  the  very  presence  of  the  Almighty, 
to  listen  to  his  voice,  to  know  the  meaning  of  the  providences  which  have 
brought  me  here  so  suddenly,  and  to  learn  what  he  would  bid  me  try  to  do 
first  in  his  name. 

One  cannot  forget  the  great  men  who,  in  our  generation,  have  gone 
before;  Mark  Hopkins,  the  Christian  scholar,  the  profound  teacher;  Dr. 
Storrs,  who  has  so  often  led  us,  almost  to  the  very  gates  of  Heaven,  by  his 
impassioned  and  matchless  words  of  devotion  to  the  Master;  Dr.  Lamson, 
our  brother  beloved,  whose  beautiful  character  was  so  manly  and  so  true  that 
he  drew  all  hearts  to  him.  It  is  not  the  honor  of  this  position,  however,  that 
has  been  in  my  thoughts,  but  its  responsibility  and  its  opportunity,  and  the 
words  of  the  Master,  “  Without  me  ye  can  do  nothing.” 

It  is  impossible  for  me  not  to  express  my  gratitude  for  the  many  letters 
which  have  come  to  me  from  all  over  the  country,  giving  words  of  cheer, 
pledges  of  cooperation,  promises  of  prayer,  embodying  the  most  earnest 
desire  for  an  increased  missionary  interest  throughout  our  churches.  And 
from  what  has  been  expressed  I  feel  that  so  far  from  its  being  considered 
officious  or  premature,  it  may  be  expected  that  some  statement  should  be 
made  of  points  considered  of  first  importance,  upon  which  attention  may  be 
immediately  centered,  in  order  to  secure  a  new  consecration  to  the  work  and 
a  vigorous  rally  of  new  strength  for  it,  even  though  we  chiefly  re-state  with 
earnest  emphasis  points  which  have  received  recent  attention  and  assent,  but 
which  need  more  general,  united  and  energetic  adoption.  Are  not  the  follow¬ 
ing  points  basal  for  us  now  ? 

Missionary  work,  the  center  of  the  life  of  every  church,  the 
supreme  test  of  loyalty  to  the  Master. 

Therefore,  a  realization  of  the  true  measure  of  our  ability,  and 
gifts  truly  proportioned  to  that  ability,  our  present  duty. 

Does  it  seem  to  some  that  I  am  putting  the  emphasis  in  the  wrong 
place  ?  Let  us  look  at  the  situation. 

First.  We  find  the  world  wide  open  everywhere  to  receive  the  message  of 
Jesus  Christ.  We  no  longer  offer  the  prayers  of  our  fathers  that  God  would 
open  the  gates  of  heathen  lands.”  He  answered  that  prayer  years  ago. 


3 


Second.  Go  back  ten  years,  and  the  constant  petition  was  for  men  to  go 
into  the  hard  places.  That  prayer  we  have  ceased  to  offer,  for  there  are  vol¬ 
unteers  waiting  to  be  sent  to  the  farthest  outpost. 

Third.  Neither  do  our  churches  as  a  whole  need  to  pray  for  more 
money  to  do  the  work.  We  have  that  now  in  our  own  possession.  See  how 
we  spend  for  ourselves  out  of  all  proportion  to  what  we  give.  What  we  do 
need,  keeping  first  in  our  thoughts  the  missionary  work,  is  to  organize  all  our 
churches  to  give  to  it  systematically  and  proportionately . 


ORGANIZATION. 

This  is  the  first  purpose  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen,  chosen  a  few 
months  since,  partly  by  the  National  Council,  and  partly  by  our  National 
Missions  societies,  to  secure,  if  possible,  a  gift  every  year  from  every  church 
for  each  of  our  six  societies.  The  result  is  to  be  attained  by  having  a  mis¬ 
sionary  committee  in  every  State,  in  every  conference  and  in  every  church, 
which  shall  see  to  it  that  there  is  definite  planning,  and  effort  in  some  measure 
commensurate  with  the  supreme  importance  of  the  work.  We  are  to  apply 
modern  and  successful  business  methods  to  the  Lord  s  business. 

The  remark  was  made  in  an  address  at  the  Providence  meeting,  that  only 
about  one-tenth  of  our  church  members  give  to  our  missionary  work.  This  is 
probably  an  over-statement,  but  it  is  true  that  there  is  a  large  fi  action  who 
give  little  or  nothing,  and  who  are  often  conspicuous  by  their  absence  on 
“Missionary  Sunday.”  We  hope  that  the  missionary  committees  in  the 
churches  will  reach  out  after  the  absentees  so  that  all  shall  share  in  this 
work,  not  only  for  God’s  glory,  but  for  their  good.  There  is  need  of  a  per¬ 
sonal  missionary  canvass. 

This  effort  for  better  organization  for  missionary  service  has  come  in  the 

Providence  of  God  in  answer  to  a  great  need. 

(i)  Only  1,171  churches  out  of  our  5,620,  or  twenty-one  per  cent,  gave 
last  year  to  all  of  the  six  societies.  (2)  In  those  churches  which  do  give, 
because  of  the  lack  of  method,  many  members  give  nothing.  It  is  a  well- 
known  fact  that  the  giving  is  done  by  a  minority  of  the  membership.  (3) 
Because  of  ignorance  with  regard  to  our  six-fold  work,  large  sums  of  money 
are  wasted  every  year  in  gifts  to  very  doubtful  experiments.  The  truth 
needs  to  be  made  more  clear  that  money  given  to  our  missionary  societies, 
whose  work  is  constantly  open  to  review,  is  the  money  most  likely  to  bring 
permanent  results.  Business  men  have  learned  that  organization  always  gives 
efficiency  and  power,  and  this  is  nowhere  more  true  than  in  missionary  work. 
Officials  in  our  Boards  of  Organized  Charities  in  our  cities  will  convince  any 
skeptic.  If  we  could  only  save  the  waste,  there  would  be  full  treasuries. 

In  order  to  see  clearly  what  an  organized  effort  like  that  proposed  by  the 
Committee  of  Fifteen  would  do  for  our  missionary  societies,  let  us  look  at  the 
facts.  The  total  gifts  of  the  living  to  our  six  societies  have  averaged  the  past 
ten  years  about  $1,200,000.  Last  year  they  were  $i,275>965'  The  Com 
mittee  recommend  that  this  amount  be  increased  to  $1,600,000.  Does  this 


4 


seem  too  much  to  ask  ?  Our  church  membership  is  628,234.  Let  us  exclude 
for  our  present  purpose  more  than  one-half,  say  328,234,  as  an  estimate 
for  children,  persons  in  extreme  poverty,  etc.,  and  count 
Whawou?dDoat'°n  as  Sivers  but  300, °°°.  The  total  amount  suggested, 
$1,600,000,  divided  among  300,000  members,  is  $5.33 
each  per  year,  or  an  average  of  a  little  over  ten  cents  a  week  per  member.  It 
would  really  be  less  than  this,  for  in  every  parish  there  are  numbers,  not 
enrolled  as  church  members,  who  give  oftentimes  generously  to  missionary 
work.  There  are  many  hundred  members  in  our  churches  whose  annual  gifts 
are  from  $100  to  $1,000  each.  There  are  churches  also  whose  gifts  average 
from  $10  to  $40  a  year  per  member.  When  you  come  to  analyze  in  this  way 
you  not  only  see  how  absurdly  small  the  average  of  ten  cents  a  week  seems, 
but  it  brings  out  into  sharp  and  clear  light  the  fact  stated  above,  that  a  very 
large  fraction  of  our  church  members  give  practically  nothing  for  missionary 
work.  And  yet,  if  even  this  small  average  was  given,  it  would  increase  the 
average  income  of  the  American  Board  over  $150,000  per  year.  We  can  raise 
this  money  easily,  and  much  more  also,  if  we  can  only  have  the  proposed 
committees  in  every  State,  conference  and  church  do  their  work.  The  300,000 
church  members  spend  many  times  this  amount  every  year  in  entertainments, 
concerts  and  various  things  which  could  be  easily  given  up.  Consider  the  in¬ 
numerable  fraternal  societies,  “  Sons  of  Adam  ”  and  “  Daughters  of  Eve,” 
organizations  for  the  propagation  of  almost  everything  under  Heaven.  Think 
of  the  assessments,  and  the  banquets,  and  the  “  outings  !  ”  If  we  only  put  one- 
quarter  of  the  time  and  labor  and  money  that  go  into  these  things  into  mis¬ 
sionary  work,  every  destitute  region  would,  in  a  few  years,  be  reached  and 
blessed.  It  is  not  a  question  of  can  or  cannot ,  but  of  will  or  will  not. 

We  rejoice  in  the  grand  work  the  women  have  been  doing  the  past 
few  years,  and  in  the  amount  of  their  gifts.  Only  about  ten  per  cent  of 
these  come  from  legacies,  and  most  of  the  gifts  come  in  small  sums.  Why 
have  they  accomplished  so  much  ?  Because  of  their  organization.  As  a  rule 
they  make  a  canvass  of  the  ladies  in  the  church,  securing  their  pledges  in 
advance,  and  in  many  cases  they  are  made  at  a  considerable  sacrifice. 
How  about  the  method  in  the  churches  themselves,  where  the  men  are 
reached  ?  The  pastor  gives  notice  that  the  annual  contribution  for  the 
American  Board  will  be  taken ;  perhaps  he  speaks  of  its  importance ;  often 
what  he  says  is  extremely  brief.  When  the  Sabbath  comes,  those  who  are 
present  give  something.  If  the  weather  is  pleasant,  the  gift  will  be 
larger  than  if  the  day  is  stormy,  but  only  in  a  very  few  churches  is  there 
any  effort  made  to  secure  a  gift  from  the  absent  members.  And  when  the 
collection  is  analyzed,  how  certainly  is  it  found  that  some  men  who  spend 
liberally  for  trifles  pay  their  missionary  obligation  in  small  coin.  The  money 
that  women  gather  is  raised  personally  and  systematically.  What  the  men 
give,  as  a  rule,  comes  without  planning,  without  system  and  about  as  it  hap¬ 
pens.  Let  me  give  an  illustration  which  has  come  to  me  within  a  few  days ; 
it  is  of  a  large  church  in  the  interior,  with  many  men  of  ample  means,  and 
worshipping  in  a  splendid  building.  Taking  out  the  gift  of  one  very  generous 


5 


man,  the  regular  contribution  to  the  American  Board  last  year  was  $i$o. 
That  represents  the  gifts  of  the  men  without  organization.  The  women  of  the 
church  gave  $900  for  Home  Missions  and  $ 800  for  Foreign  Missions.  I  hat 
represented  their  gifts  with  organization.  That  is  a  story  from  the  West. 
Here  is  one  from  an  interior  city  of  the  East.  It  is  of  a  strong  church  of  sev¬ 
eral  hundred  members.  The  missionary  contribution  was  $900.  One  man 
gave  $500,  his  wife  $250,  a  second  man  $100.  The  rest  of  that  large  church 
gave  $50  !  Such  illustrations,  which  could  be  multiplied,  suggest  to  us  the 
first  need,  viz.,  to  organize  and  press  the  plan  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen, 
until  some  one  proposes  a  better.  To  quote  from  a  letter  recently  received 
from  Dr.  Henry  Hopkins  of  Kansas  City,  “  Your  Committee  of  Fifteen  hold, 

I  think,  the  key  to  the  whole  situation.” 

Is  some  one  surprised  that,  as  president  of  the  American  Board,  I  should 
be  pleading  for  a  plan  that  has  to  do  with  all  our  societies.  In  reply  let  me 
say  that  I  believe  I  can  do  no  better  service  to  the  American  Board  than  to 
use  such  influence  as  I  have  to  urge  just  such  loyalty. 
Along  the  whole  want  greater  unity  in  our  missionary  work  without 

thought  of  rivalry.  We  need  a  “  forward  movement,”  not  in 
one  society  but  in  all,  and  if  the  churches  at  home  languish,  the  American 
Board  is  certain  to  suffer.  A  “  forward  movement  ”  in  the  American  Board, 
at  the  expense  of  the  work  of  other  societies,  will  be  sure  to  react  to  our  injury 
in  the  future. 

The  Committee  of  Fifteen  is  fully  aware  of  the  widespread  feeling  in  the 
churches  that  the  home  societies  at  least  should  in  some  way  come  closer  to¬ 
gether,  either  through  federation  or  by  an  organic  union.  The  resolutions  at 
the  National  Council  at  Portland  took  this  into  full  account.  But  while  we  are 
discussing  changes  in  methods  of  administration  at  home,  we  ought  not  to  per¬ 
mit  the  army  to  suffer  at  the  front. 

The  question  has  been  asked  what  the  recommendation  of  the  Committee 
of  Fifteen  was  with  regard  to  the  proportion  of  the  total  amount  raised,  that 
should  be  paid  to  each  of  our  six  societies.  I  take  this  opportunity  to  say  that 
the  Committee  made  no  recommendation,  and  felt  that  the  conditions  in  the 
different  states  were  so  different  that  it  might  be  considered  almost  an  imperti¬ 
nence  for  the  Committee  to  make  a  general  recommendation  for  the  whole 
country.  We  feel  that  our  Congregational  churches  in  the  different  States 
would  much  prefer  to  propose  their  own  plans  of  proportions.  It  seemed  to 
us  that  our  duty  was  done  when  we  published,  as  we  did,  the  average  gifts  of 
the  six  societies  for  ten  years,  and  what  each  society  would  receive  if  the  in¬ 
crease  asked  for  was  paid  by  the  churches,  provided  they  followed  the  same 
proportions  in  their  gifts  as  they  had  done  in  the  past.  I  print  this  table  over 
again,  that  all  our  churches  may  see  what  these  yearly  averages  have  been,  and 
what  the  amount  would  be  for  each  society  if  these  proportions  remain  as  in 

the  past : 


6 


Average  yearly  donation 
for  ten  years. 


Amount  on  basis 


of  increase 
proposed. 


A.  B.  C.  F.  M. 


Congregational  Church  Building  Society 
Congregational  Ed.  Society  (four  years) 
Congregational  S.  S.  and  Pub.  Society 


American  Missionary  Association 


Congregational  Home  Missionary  Society 


^470, 178  00 
366,925  00 
178,236  00 
59,027  00 
72,567  00 
53,072  00 


$626,900  00 
489,231  00 
237,647  00 
78,703  00 
96,756  00 
70,763  00 


$1,200,005  00 


$1,600,000  00 


Calculating  the  proportions,  we  find  that  for  the  past  ten  years  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Board  has  had  thirty-nine  per  cent  of  the  gifts  ;  the  Home  Missionary 
Society,  thirty  and  one-half  per  cent;  the  American  Missionary  Association, 
fifteen  per  cent ;  the  Building  Society,  five  per  cent ;  the  Educational  Society 
(four  years),  six  per  cent ;  the  Sunday  School  Society,  four  and  one-half  per 
cent.  Experience  has  shown  that  the  committee  was  correct  in  its  position, 
for  I  have  before  me  the  schedules  in  three  different  states,  as  arranged  by 
their  state  committees,  and  there  are  no  two  of  them  exactly  alike. 

Nor  has  the  committee  laid  out  any  plan  for  general  adoption  in  the  local 
churches,  as  the  present  methods  are  so  very  various.  Some  take  special 
offerings  for  each  of  the  societies  on  special  Sundays.  Others  follow  the 
weekly  offering  plan,  and  then  give  a  specified  proportion  to  each.  Other 
churches  agree  on  the  gross  amount  they  feel  they  ought  to  give  for  the  -whole 
missionary  work,  and  then  divide  up  the  amount  in  shares,  asking  pledges 
from  individual  members  as  each  may  be  able.  But  the  plan  that  may  be 
best  in  one  church  would  be  opposed  in  another,  and  any  pastor  or  committee 
with  all  the  information  that  is  available  is  fully  capable  of  managing  such 
details. 

We  believe  that  one  of  the  advantages  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen’s  plan 
is  that  it  admits  of  elasticity,  so  that  it  can  be  conformed  to  local  needs  with¬ 
out  in  any  way  interfering  with  its  spirit. 

The  officers  of  the  American  Board  are  in  full  sympathy  with  this  plan 
for  the  better  organization  of  all  our  missionary  work.  They  have  welcomed 
it  from  the  beginning.  It  is  a  pleasant  memory  that,  before  this  plan  was  pro¬ 
posed  at  the  National  Council,  I  discussed  it  in  its  various  aspects  with  Rev. 
Dr.  Lamson.  It  not  only  had  his  heartiest  approval  then,  but,  last  May,  be¬ 
fore  his  own  pulpit,  he  took  me  by  the  hand  and  his  first  words  were,  in  sub¬ 
stance,  “We  will  stand  by  you  in  the  new  plan.”  In  Christ’s  nearer  presence, 
with  clearer  vision  of  the  infinite  meaning  of  missionary  work,  may  we  not 
believe  he  has  a  still  keener  interest  in  a  plan  which,  if  the  churches  will,  can 
furnish  the  money  to  push  the  missionary  line  forward  all  over  America  and 
all  over  the  world. 


EDUCATION 


Passing  from  the  need  of  a  more  complete  organization,  I  would  repeat 
and  urge  the  plea  for  better  education  in  our  missionary  work.  Dr.  Bradford, 
in  a  recent  number  of  “  Congregational  Work,”  has  well  said  that  “before  the 
treasuries  of  our  missionary  societies  can  be  filled  so  that  they  will  stay  full, 


7 


there  must  be  a  long  and  thorough  campaign  of  education,  which  shall  have 
as  its  object  the  teaching  of  the  people  who  live  today,  that  they  and  all  men 
need  the  gospel  and  Christian  institutions.” 

This  education  should  begin  in  the  home,  for  the  best  missionary  interest, 
that  which  stands  the  test  of  time,  starts  at  the  fireside.  While  the  church 
most  effectively  reaches  the  home  through  the  parent,  yet  it  has 
Children6  ^ie  opportunity  to  reach  the  children  directly  through  the  Sunday 
school.  It  should,  therefore,  be  made  more  a  part  of  the  business 
of  the  church  to  train  the  boys  anid  girls  to  the  highest  missionary  spirit. 

First.  There  should  be  a  catechism  prepared  with  such  questions  as  the 
following,  with  answers:  “  What  is  missionary  work?  ”  “  Why  should  I  give 
to  missions  ?  ”  “  What  is  the  best  way  to  help  in  missionary  work  ?  ”  “  How 

many  missionary  societies  have  we  in  the  Congregational  churches  ?  ”  “  What 
are  their  names,  their  work,  etc.,  etc.  ?  ”  We  ought  also  to  recognize  modern 
methods  of  education  in  the  use  of  the  eye.  There  should  be  prepared  a 
handsome  illuminated  card  in  large  type,  with  the  names  of  the  six  societies, 
to  be  hung  upon  the  wall  in  every  Sunday  school  room,  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific.  The  pastor  or  the  Sunday  school  superintendent  should  supple¬ 
ment  the  work  of  the  teacher  in  the  class  with  the  catechism,  by  a  general 
review  of  the  whole  school  at  brief  intervals,  until  the  scholars  know  our  mis¬ 
sionary  work  as  they  know  the  alphabet. 

Second.  When  the  children  have  thus  been  instructed  and  interested  in 
our  splendid  missionary  work,  its  stories  of  matchless  heroism,  etc.,  they 
should  be  encouraged  and  expected  to  give  systematically  to  our  six-fold  work. 
Large  sums  of  money  in  the  aggregate  are  given  by  our  Sunday  schools  every 
year.  In  an  article  which  I  wrote  in  1890,  the  amount  of  the  contributions 
taken  up  in  the  Sunday  schools  was  estimated  then  at  $ 200,000 .  With  proper 
instruction  given  to  the  children  it  could  be  largely  increased.  Let  us  cease 
talking  to  the  older  boys  and  girls  in  our  schools  about  “  penny  contribu¬ 
tions.”  It  belittles  the  whole  idea.  No  wonder  they  put  in  only  coppers. 
Let  us  talk  about  missionary  giving  and  dignify  it  as  it  should  be.  Much  of 
this  money  is  given  to  miscellaneous  objects  ;  some,  at  least,  of  doubtful 
value  ;  most,  far  inferior  in  importance  to  our  own  missionary  work.  Perhaps 
the  children  in  our  Sunday  schools  can  support  some  one  of  the  missions. 
They  have  given  a  Adorning  Star  three  times  in  the  past.  Let  them  provide 
a  whole  galaxy  of  stars  every  year  in  missionaries  supported 
ReaChSchooiUnday  ancj  chqdj-en  taught.  There  is  a  large  revenue  here  that 
ought  to  be  directed  so  far  as  possible  to  this  its  best  use. 
The  total  gifts  of  the  Methodists  last  year  to  Foreign  and  Home  Missions 
together  was  $1,162,949,  of  which  the  Sunday  schools  contributed  $382,520. 
By  their  rules,  fifty-seven  per  cent  went  to  the  foreign  work,  and  forty-three 
per  cent  to  the  home.  The  Presbyterians  gave  to  their  foreign  work  last  year 
$882,087,  of  which  the  Sunday  schools  gave  $42,998.31,  besides  what  they 
gave  through  the  Woman’s  Boards.  The  American  Board  receipts  were 
$633,016,  of  which  the  Sunday  schools  gave  directly  but  $11,701,  including 
those  that  went  through  the  Woman’s  Boards.  I  am  not  urging  that  all  the 

8 


children's  Sunday  school  gifts  should  go  to  the  six  societies.  I  here  are  other 
worthy  objects  they  should  remember.  But  I  am  pleading  for  a  fair  proportion, 
and  $ 12,000  is  not  such  a  proportion  for  our  foreign  work. 

When  I  referred  to  this  Sunday  school  work  in  my  address  at  Providence, 
on  the  report  of  the  Home  Department,  I  did  not  know  what  was  in  the  mind 
of  a  member  of  the  Prudential  Committee,  or  of  the  resolution  that  was  to  be 
offered  and  heartily  accepted,  asking  the  Sunday  schools  to  set  apart  a  Sab¬ 
bath  in  January  for  addresses,  etc.,  on  foreign  missions,  and  for  an  offering 
from  each  class.  The  third  Sabbath  in  January,  each  year,  has  now  been 
fixed  upon  as  the  date.  This  is  definite  and  practical,  and  deserve?  a  univer¬ 
sal  response. 

I  am  glad  to  say  that  some  of  the  officers  of  our  Sunday  School  Society  are 
already  considering  the  providing  of  the  catechism  and  the  illustrated  card 
referred  to  above.  For  more  than  fifteen  years  it  has  been  a  pleasure  as 
President  of  that  Society  to  urge  all  our  churches  every  year  to  remember  by 
their  gifts  the  missionary  work  for  the  children  of  America.  I  am  glad  of  the 
opportunity  now  to  urge  every  Sunday  school  throughout  our  land  to  make 
a  contribution  to  the  American  Board.  From  our  more  than  5,000  Sunday 
schools  we  ought  to  raise  the  first  year  $50,000.  One  Sunday  school  of  only 
average  ability  has  made  the  first  pledge  of  $100.  I  know  the  broad  mission¬ 
ary  spirit  of  the  men  with  whom  I  have  served  for  so  many  years,  the  secre¬ 
tary  and  the  executive  committee  of  the  Sunday  School  Society,  and  its  noble 
superintendents  and  missionaries  in  the  West.  I  feel  sure  there  will  be  a 
hearty  response,  so  far  as  the  influence  of  this  society  can  go  in  endorsing  this 
appeal. 

Third.  This  education  of  the  children  in  our  Sunday  schools  means 

far  more  than  their  present  gifts,  important  as  these  may  be.  It  means  the 

boys  and  girls  themselves  in  future  years  pledged  to  the  support  of  our  whole 

missionary  work.  The  children  are  our  reserves  and  the  time  has  fully  come 

to  call  them  out.  The  great  givers  of  the  past  were  made  in  child- 

Trained  to  jloocp  a  shGrt  time  ago  I  talked  with  the  late  Samuel  Johnson 
Give.  0 

about  the  missionary  work  of  the  Old  South  Church,  Boston, 
where,  as  is  known  to  so  many,  there  is  thorough  planning  by  pastor  and  com¬ 
mittee.  He  told  me  of  his  early  gifts  of  a  few  dollars  a  year,  when  his  salary 
was  very  small.  It  was  that  training  which  led  him  to  respond  to  every  call 
and  give  his  thousands  every  year  when  the  day  of  larger  things  came  to  him. 
It  was  that  training  which  made  it  possible  for  Rev.  George  A.  Gordon,  his 
pastor,  to  give  this  beautiful  tribute  in  a  recent  memorial  discourse  :  “  He 
was  known  as  the  lover  of  this  Church,  (Old  South)  ;  at  the  same  time,  his 
concern  for  foreign  missions  was  his  chief  religious  interest.”  “  The  child  is 
the  father  of  the  man  ”  in  his  missionary  gifts,  more  than  in  almost  any  other 
direction. 

In  contrast  with  the  above,  a  friend  went  recently  to  a  young  man  in  his 
church  and  asked  for  a  gift  of  ten  dollars  for  foreign  missions,  but  the  man 
felt  that  that  sum  was  coo  much  to  expect  of  him.  Yet  that  very  week  he  paid 
fifteen  dollars  entrance  fee  to  a  club,  and  fifteen  dollars  additional  annual  dues, 


9 


with  many  other  expenses.  Neglect  in  his  early  years  had  brought  this  young 
man  to  such  distorted  views  of  proportion  in  his  expenditures.  If  selfishness 
rules  the  boy,  benevolence  will  never  rule  the  man.  My  second  appeal  to 
parents  and  pastors  and  teachers  is  for  better  missionary  education. 

It  is  one  of  the  hopeful  signs  in  this  missionary  education  that  the 
leaders  of  the  Christian  Endeavor  movement  have  been  doing  such  efficient 
service  the  last  few  years.  At  the  meeting  in  Montreal  in 
Christian  Endeavor.  1893,  Rev.  Dr.  F.  E.  Clark,  in  his  presidential  address, 
stated  that  both  good  citizenship  and  missionary  work  must 
be  the  basis  of  Christian  Endeavor  work  in  future  years.  The  emphasis  then 
put  upon  these  two  ideas  has  been  continued.  Especially  has  every  effort 
been  made  to  develop  the  missionary  spirit.  Not  only  in  the  great  yearly  con¬ 
ventions,  but  in  the  local  unions,  and  in  prayer  meetings  this  subject  has  had 
a  large  place.  It  has  taken  shape  partly  in  the  organization  of  the  “  Tenth. 
Legion,”  and  the  statistics  show  that  the  gifts  of  our  young  people  have  very 
largely  increased  during  the  last  few  years.  We  know  very  well  from  his 
utterances  that  Dr.  Clark  and  his  associates,  will  press  this  idea  in  the  future 
with  all  earnestness  and  enthusiasm,  and  we  can  confidently  expect  an  increas¬ 
ing  revenue  from  this  source  from  year  to  year.  The  direct  gifts  from  Chris¬ 
tian  Endeavor  societies  last  year  was  $21,577  ;  we  believe  in  a  reasonable  time 
they  will  be  $50,000. 

BUSINESS  FORETHOUGHT. 

With  the  better  organization  already  proposed,  and  the  better  education  of 
our  children,  there  is  a  third  point  which  I  think  needs  to  be  provided  for  as 
we  face  the  future.  The  American  Board  closed  last  year  with  a  debt,  but  not 
because  of  a  falling-off  in  the  gifts  of  the  living.  These  made  the  gratifying 
gain  of  $58,000  over  the  previous  year.  The  legacies,  however,  were  $85,000 
less  than  in  1898.  While  we  regret  the  debt,  it  will  prove  to  be  a  great  bless¬ 
ing  in  the  end  if  it  leads  now  to  a  recognition  of  the  great  variations  in  lega¬ 
cies,  and  to  wise  business  planning  accordingly.  To  illustrate:  in  1892  the 
legacies  of  the  Board  were  nearly  $250,000;  the  next  year  they  fell  to 
$147,000.  In  1898  they  were  $187,000,  and  in  1899  they  fell  again  to  $102,- 
000.  The  average  of  the  legacies  for  the  past  ten  years  has  been  $166,000. 
If  the  Board,  therefore,  the  past  year,  had  had  the  average  receipts  from  lega¬ 
cies,  these  receipts  would  have  more  than  paid  its  annual  expense.  With  such 
variations,  we  see  how  difficult  it  is  for  the  executive  committee  to  plan  its 
work.  We  must,  however,  get  out  of  debt,  and  then  keep  out  forever.  The 
appeal  so  constantly  made  to  raise  money  to  pay  debts  is  not  only  distasteful 
to  our  churches,  but  it  paralyzes  in  a  large  measure,  the  missionary  spirit,  and 
rests  like  a  great  pall  over  secretaries  and  committees,  and  the  brave  men  and 
women  at  the  front.  What  is  the  solution  ?  One  certainly  is,  to  put  all  the 
legacies  into  a  fund  to  be  called  the  Legacy  Fund,  a  portion  only  of  the  amount 
to  be  spent  each  year.  In  this  way  the  large  legacies  one  year  will  average 
with  the  smaller  legacies  of  other  years ;  there  will  then  be  a  reasonable  uni- 


formity  in  the  available  receipts  from  this  source,  and  a  consequent  steadiness 
in  the  work. 

This  is  no  new  plan,  for  it  has  been  practically  at  work  in  the  Sunday 
School  Society  for  several  years  with  perfect  success,  helping  to  carry  them 
through  these  last  years  of  business  depression  without  a 
The  Plan  Tested,  debt.  A  very  able  report  was  presented  at  the  Providence 
meeting  by  Dr.  L.  C.  Warner,  of  New  York,  in  its  spirit 
entirely  in  harmony  with  the  above  plan,  and  the  Board  has  voted  that  all  leg¬ 
acies  received  this  year  in  excess  of  $100,000  be  used  to  pay  the  present  debt. 

I  know  the  objection  will  be  raised  that  we  ought  to  put  the  money  as  fast  as 
received  into  the  work  and  not  create  a  fund.  “Trust  the  churches”  and 
“  trust  in  God  ”  has  been  the  constant  word  at  many  a  meeting.  But  God  has 
given  us  experience  and  reason  for  guides,  and  not  to  recognize  certain  stub¬ 
born  facts  is  blind  folly.  This  is  not  faith,  it  is  presumption.  When  we  are 
in  trouble  through  no  fault  of  our  own,  we  may  then  expect  Divine  help ; 
when  we  get  there  through  a  want  of  proper  care,  we  must  not  find  fault  if  he 
leaves  us  to  suffer  for  our  folly.  Satan  once  invited  Jesus  to  cast  himself 
down  from  a  pinnacle  of  the  Temple,  stating  that  God  would  take  care  of 
him,  but  he  replied,  “  Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord  thy  God.”  A  missionary 
society  is  tempting  Providence  when  it  refuses  to  accept  certain  facts  as 
guides  to  action.  There  was  quite  a  discussion  ten  years  ago  over  this  ques¬ 
tion  of  legacies,  some  contending  that  there  was  what  they  called  “  a  regular 
law  of  legacies,”  and  others  opposing  the  idea.  Time  has  proved  that  the 
latter  were  correct.  There  has  never  yet  been  a  committee  and  there  never 
will  be  one,  with  the  gift  of  foreknowledge,  so  that  they  can  either  discover 
the  secrets  hidden  in  men’s  wills,  or  know  when  their  Heavenly  Father  is  to 
take  them  home,  so  that  these  gifts  will  be  available. 

I  believe  the  creation  of  such  a  fund  as  proposed,  viz.,  to  average  the  leg¬ 
acies,  so  that  the  unusual  receipts  of  one  year  might  be  an  offset  to  the  small 
receipts  of  another,  thereby  giving  steadiness  to  the  available 
a  Legacy  Fund  receipts,  would  be  approved  by  every  business  man.  So  far 
from  lessening  gifts,  it  would  tend  to  increase  them.  It  would 
give  new  prestige  and  character  and  confidence  everywhere.  A  business 
firm  is  injured  if  it  is  known  to  be  doing  too  much  business  for  its  capital. 
The  time  has  fully  come  in  all  our  missionary  societies,  when,  if  we  will  do 
our  best  work,  the  ordinary  methods  of  safe  and  prudent  financial  manage¬ 
ment  must  be  adopted.  The  American  Board  from  its  very  beginning  has  had 
the  highest  financial  standing.  It  has  now,  as  in  all  the  past,  some  of  the 
ablest  business  men  in  the  country  upon  its  Prudential  Committee,  to  care  for 
its  interests.  Its  credit  has  been  of  the  best  in  all  the  world’s  markets.  Let 
it  recognize  now  some  changed  conditions,  and  take  this  one  further  step  to 
prevent  all  future  debts,  and  it  will  stand  unchallenged  as  the  model  of  all 
missionary  organizations  everywhere. 

I  am  glad  to  know  that  the  officers  of  the  society  and  its  Prudential  Com¬ 
mittee  are  in  sympathy  with  this  plan,  and  have  only  hesitated  because  it 
would  necessitate  a  curtailment  of  the  work  during  the  transition  period. 


11 


As  there  is  no  knowledge  of  any  large  gift  or  legacy  likely  to  come  into  the 
tieasury  at  an  early  date,  which  could  be  used  as  a  basis  for  this  fund,  it  is 
important  to  consider  what  can  practically  be  done  now  with  regard  to  it. 
Our  Congregationalist  brethren  in  England  have  proposed  to  raise  a  Twen¬ 
tieth  Century  Fund  of  half  a  million  pounds,  the  roll  to  be  kept  of  all  sub¬ 
scribers  and  collectors,  and  to  be  closed  on  the  first  day  of  the  twentieth 
century,  January  i,  1901.  The  Methodists  in  both  England  and  America  are 
at  work  in  a  similar  way.  Why  should  not  Congregationalists  in  America, 
following  the  above  examples,  raise  a  Twentieth  Century  offering  to  be  used 
as  a  legacy  fund  for  the  purpose  already  indicated  ?  Let  the  privilege  be 
given  to  have  it  paid  when  desired,  in  two  annual  payments.  As  the  new 
century  is  about  to  dawn,  why  may  we  not  expect  some  large  gifts  to  put  this 
grand  old  society  once  for  all  in  a  position  where  debts  will  be  a  thing  of  the 
past  ? 

Dr.  Stimson  was  correct  when  in  a  recent  article  he  called  attention  to  the 
changed  conditions  which  have  come  in  the  business  world  the  last  few  years, 
and,  as  a  result,  the  large  fortunes  which  some  Christian  men 
Large  Gifts,  have  made.  Ought  not  such  men  to  recognize  the  privilege  of  a 
large  increase  in  gifts  in  proportion  to  their  increased  ability  ? 
That  which  a  few  years  ago  might  have  been  generous,  will  now  in  God’s 
sight  be  small  and  unworthy.  He  takes  note  not  of  the  gift,  of  what  we  have 
left.  The  liberality  with  which  many  now  give  for  Y.  M.  C.  A.  buildings, 
hospitals,  etc.,  in  sums  of  from  f>$,ooo  to  $2^,000,  will  in  the  twentieth  century 
be  the  new  standard  for  their  missionary  gifts.  There  are  also  many  of 
smaller  means  who  ought  to  be  eager  to  make  a  special  thank-offering  because 
of  what  has  been  done  in  the  old  century,  to  plant  the  cross  in  the  dark 
places  of  the  earth. 

I  am,  as  a  rule,  opposed  to  special  appeals.  They  usually  take  from  the 
regular  gifts,  they  are  a  weariness  to  the  pastors  and  the  churches,  there  is 
sure  to  be  a  reaction,  so  that  the  net  gain  from  the  appeal  is  usually  very 
small.  But  with  the  opening  of  a  new  century,  the  only  one  we  shall  ever 
see,  there  seems  to  be  a  peculiar  fitness  in  an  effort  to  raise  this  Twentieth 
Century  Fund  to  be  used  as  a  legacy  fund  for  all  the  future. 

To  recapitulate,  the  first  duties  are  better  organization ,  better  education , 
business  forethought. 


THE  pastor’s  INTEREST  ESSENTIAL. 

For  the  success  of  all  this  planning  there  is  one  condition  which  is  abso¬ 
lutely  essential,  the  intellige?it  interest,  the  enthusiastic  codperatio7i  of  our  pastors. 
They  hold  largely  the  key  to  success  or  failure  of  any  plan  :  it  will  be  like  so 
much  dead  machinery  without  their  support.  As  a  rule,  the  interest  of  the 
pastor  in  missions  measures  the  interest  of  his  church.  The  remark  is  often 


made  that  the  ministry  does  not  have  the  influence  it  once  did.  While 
admitting  that  times  have  changed,  and  that  the  pastor  is  no  longer  the  only 
educated  man  in  his  parish,  yet  still  he  is  our  “  pastor  and  teacher.”  He  is 
by  our  side  in  the  hour  of  sorrow ;  he  still  marries  our  children  and  buries 
our  dead.  His  touch  of  love  still  binds  us  to  him,  and  he  may,  if  he  will,  lead 
his  people  on  to  higher  and  better  things.  It  is  for  the  pastors,  by  their  own 
enthusiasm,  to  kindle  a  passion  for  missions  which  shall  stir  the  careless  and 
the  indifferent,  and  make  all  feel  that  missionary  zeal  is  at  once  the  heart  and 
the  life  blood  of  the  church  of  the  Pilgrims.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  our  minis¬ 
try  that  so  many  are  thoroughly  aroused,  and  are  practically  at  work  in  vari¬ 
ous  ways.  A  friend  recently  told  me  of  a  plan  he  once  followed  of  having 
every  Sabbath  morning,  before  his  sermon,  a  five-minute  prelude  on  missions, 
adapted  especially  to  the  men  of  his  church.  In  contrast  with  this,  a  pastor 
recently,  who  came  from  another  denomination,  abolished  the  whole  system 
of  our  denominational  missionary  work,  on  the  ground  that  these  collections 
cut  into  the  money  wanted  for  current  expenses.  A  man  who  has  not  suffi¬ 
cient  interest  to  make  a  missionary  plan  for  his  church,  and  a  heart  to  push 
it  when  made,  ought  not  to  be  settled  over  a  Congregational  church.  To 
quote  from  Dr.  McKenzie,  “  The  American  who  does  not  believe  in  foreign 
missions,  denies  his  ancestry,  his  country  and  his  God.” 

There  is  one  thing  certainly  every  pastor  can  do,  viz.,  provide  at  least 
once  a  month,  in  the  mid-week,  a  missionary  meeting.  I  fear  in  a  major¬ 
ity  of  our  churches,  the  old  “  Missionary  Concert,”  so  called,  has  gone.  I 
would  not  ask  for  a  revival  of  this  exactly,  but  for  a  service 
ThC  itervice'11^  shall  take  its  place  ;  a  service  which  shall  make 

a  study  of  missions  in  the  whole  world.  In  our  late  Civil 
War  the  heart  of  the  nation  was  with  the  army,  for  every  family  had 
some  representative  “  at  the  front.”  Our  churches  ought  to  consider 
our  missionaries  at  home  and  abroad  as  our  representatives  “  at  the 
front,”  and  follow  them  as  we  did  the  army.  Lay  out  a  whole  year’s 
work  and  assign  different  portions  of  the  field  to  different  individuals  for 
them  to  study  and  report  upon.  There  is  no  story  more  glorious  or  fascinat¬ 
ing.  Why  do  all  our  churches  want  to  hear  the  missionaries  ?  One  reason 
certainly  is  that  they  have  something  to  say  of  personal  and  definite  work. 
Let  us  make  our  meetings  very  definite  and  practical,  with  the  latest  facts. 
What  a  place  in  these  meetings  to  study  God  in  history!  And  the  man  who 
reads  history  without  this  thought  has  left  out  the  key.  Such  a  study  broadens 
men.  Professor  Irving  Wood,  of  Smith  College,  has  said,  “  No  subject  for 
study  will  give  culture  more  than  the  study  of  missionary  work.  Philistinism 
is  provincialism,  and  nothing  opposes  provincialism  and  broadens  sympathy 
as  the  study  of  missions.”  Change  the  name  of  the  meeting.  Call  it  “  The 
work  of  the  army  at  the  front,”  in  India,  or  China,  or  Alaska,  or  Porto  Rico,  as 
the  case  may  be.  There  will  be  a  new  definiteness  and  earnestness  in  our 
prayer.  Our  thoughts  will  follow  not  the  “flag”  only,  but  the  “cross,’’ 
without  which  there  would  never  have  been  a  flag  worth  following.  Yes,  with 
a  new  purpose,  we  want  together  to  plan  the  work  and  then  wo?'k  the  plan. 


13 


And  I  would  press  this  interest  in  missions  upon  the  pastors  of  small  and 
feeble  churches,  as  of  equal  importance  to  them  as  to  those  settled  over 
stronger  churches.  From  experience  on  Home  Missionary  Boards  I  know 
very  well  the  discouragements  in  the  little  communities,  and  sym- 

Small 

Churches  pathize  with  the  burdens  of  the  men  who  are  placed  over  the 
feeble  churches.  But  is  it  not  true  that  one  reason  for  discour¬ 
agement  is  the  narrowness  of  their  vision  ?  It  is  the  home  missionary  church 
that  especially  needs  the  uplift  that  comes  with  the  broader  outlook.  Even  if 
the  gift  of  the  little  church  is  but  a  few  dollars,  it  would  feel  that  it  was 
definitely  connected  with  the  great  movements  of  the  age,  even  to  the  end  of 
the  earth.  It  is  a  part  of  the  great  army,  and  is,  therefore,  no  longer  small. 
It  has  fallen  into  line,  having  put  on  the  uniform  of  the  king,  and  is  doing  ser¬ 
vice  in  his  name.  Let  the  pastors  everywhere  make  it  known  that  missions 
are  the  business  of  the  church,  and  not  its  pastime,  and  the  world  will  honor 
the  church  as  never  before.  We  glory  in  the  “  Student  Volunteer  Move¬ 
ment,”  and  their  enthusiasm  to  be  sent  to  the  front.  Let  us  kindle  a  new  fire 
in  our  churches  that  shall  provide  the  money  to  put  these  young  soldiers,  as 
fast  as  they  are  ready,  out  on  the  fighting  line.  We  rejoice  in  the  splendid 
leadership  of  so  many  of  our  pastors  in  all  missionary  work ;  and  may  we  not 
urge  upon  all  the  magnificent  opportunity  to  be  earnest  and  true  in  this  holy 
war,  not  only  to  save  America,  but  to  carry  the  gospel  of  the  Son  of  God  into 
all  the  earth. 

THE  MOTIVES. 

And  what  is  the  motive  for  all  this  effort  to  gather  more  that  we  may 
scatter  more  ? 

It  is  God’s  command  surely.  The  Bible  in  the  Old  Testament  and  the 
New  clearly  shows  the  emphasis  that  he  put  upon  it.  Giving  was  a  part  of 
worship.  “Ye  shall  not  appear  before  the  Lord  empty ;  every  one  shall  give 
as  he  is  able.”  Again,  “  Let  each  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store  as  he  may 
prosper.”  It  is  “  each  ”  and  “  every  one,”  and  in  proportion  to  ability,  in  the 
Old  Testament  and  the  New  alike.  The  scriptures  always  lay  the  emphasis 
upon  these  two  points,  universality  and  ability.  God  apparently  keeps  his 
record  differently  from  ours ;  the  church  treasurer  counts  what  he  receives  ; 
God,  with  knowledge  of  our  ability,  counts  what  each  man  has  left.  Giving  is 
a  test  of  discipleship. 

But  the  positive  command  is  not  the  chief  motive.  It  is  love ,  the  same 
which  brought  Jesus  Christ  into  the  world,  “  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which 
was  lost.”  Man’s  need  as  the  awful  background,  and  a  passionate  desire,  in 
loyalty  to  the  Master,  to  follow  along  the  path  he  trod,  have  for  nineteen  cen¬ 
turies  furnished  the  supreme  motive  which  has  led  men  to  suffer  and  to  sacri¬ 
fice  in  order  to  plant  the  cross  in  the  darkest  corner  of  the  world. 

POWER  OF  PRAYER. 

It  is  so  fundamental  to  all  right  thinking  and  action  that  it  might  seem 
unnecessary  to  allude  to  one  condition  of  success,  without  which  all  else 
counts  for  nought,  viz.,  the  blessing  of  our  Father  in  Heaven  in  answer  to 


14 


heartfelt  and  therefore  constant  and  earnest  petition.  I  allude  to  this,  not  only 
because  I  am  unwilling  to  make  this  first  public  statement  without  a  recogni¬ 
tion  that  all  human  effort  apart  from  God  is  valueless,  but  especially  because 
in  the  many  letters  I  have  received,  the  thing  which  has  touched  and 
impressed  me  most  is  the  repeated  statement  that  special  prayers  are  now 
being  offered  for  the  new  presence  and  power  of  the  Infinite  One  to  be  mani¬ 
fested  in  the  work  of  the  Board.  Methods,  organization,  personal  work,  all 
will  prove  insufficient  and  disappointing  without  such  constant  prayer.  From 
the  time  when  the  prayers  of  five  young  men  under  the  haystack  at  Williams- 
town  led  to  the  formation  of  the  American  Board,  to  this  hour,  it  has  won  all 
its  victories  through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  answer  to  such  requests.. 

“  Prayer  makes  a  person  a  magazine  of  power.” 

PRESENT  DISCUSSION. 

There  are  two  other  points,  much  in  the  thoughts  of  the  churches,  which 
I  would  also  notice. 

First,  the  importance  of  the  closest  possible  connection  between  the  officers  of 
the  Board  and  the  field.  My  whole  experience  in  the  home  work  has  led  me 
to  the  strongest  conviction  that  to  do  our  best  work  there  must  be  constant 
visitation  by  the  secretaries  and  members  of  executive  committees,  wherever 
possible,  to  the  front,  wherever  the  front  may  be.  At  the  bar  today,  it  is  not 
always  the  lawyer  who  can  make  the  most  fervid  appeal,  but  the  one  who, 
a  master  of  facts  in  the  case,  can  most  clearly  put  them  before  a  jury,  that 
wins.  And  it  will  prove  so  in  the  work  of  this  Board.  A  year  and  a  half 
ago,  when  preparing  the  paper  on  “  Modern  Methods  in  Missionary  Work” 
for  the  National  Council,  I  wrote  the  following  paragraph  :  but  this  with  sev¬ 
eral  others  were  omitted  largely  for  the  sake  of  brevity. 

“  IVe  must  have  a  closer  touch  between  the  field  and  the  home  churches.  Certainly  no  mer¬ 
cantile  house  could  carry  on  business  in  all  the  world  intelligently  and  successfully,  if  there 
was  not  constant  personal  communication  between  the  home  office  and  its  representatives  in 
other  parts  of  the  world.  Several  years  ago,  the  Sunday  School  Society  had  in  mind  the 
commissioning  of  a  man  in  a  distant  state  to  do  its  work,  but  he  declined  and  went  into  the 
service  of  another  organization,  giving  as  a  reason  subsequently  that  if  he  worked  for 
the  Congregational  Sunday  School  and  Publishing  Society,  he  would  have  to  go  to  the  front, 
and  he  preferred  to  do  his  work  for  another  organization,  where  he  could  do  his  work  largely 
from  his  home.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  in  some  of  our  societies  we  have  tried  to  care  for  the 
work  too  much  from  the  office  ?  This  certainly  is  one  advantage  that  our  Methodist  friends 
have  over  us,  in  the  rotation  of  their  bishops.  They  are  sure  to  have  at  each  yearly  mission¬ 
ary  gathering  not  only  men  who  have  been  all  over  the  world,  but  men  who  have  that  very 
year  come  from  mission  stations,  and  who  know  by  personal  inspection  the  requirements  of 
the  field.  In  Scotland  and  England,  almost  every  year,  they  have  ministers  and  laymen  mak¬ 
ing  a  tour  of  their  missions.  In  the  year  1S83  the  American  Board  sent  a  deputation  to 
Constantinople.  For  many  years  there  had  been  more  or  less  friction  over  various  questions, 
connected  with  the  Turkish  Missions.  This  deputation  visited  some  stations  and  met  dele¬ 
gates  from  them  all.  As  a  result  of  the  conferences,  everything  was  settled  harmoniously,, 
and  there  has  been  no  question  raised  since.  This  service  was  worth  ten  times  what  it  cost. 
We  are  glad  that  the  American  Board,  after  working  more  than  sixty  years  in  China,  has  this 
year  sent  a  delegation  to  look  after  its  interests  in  that  great  empire.  We  can  see  in  the 
case  of  Robert  E.  Speer,  one  of  the  foreign  secretaries  of  the  Presbyterian  Board,  John  R. 
Mott  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  and  of  our  own  Francis  E.  Clark,  all  of  whom. 


IS 


have  made  long  journeys  around  the  world,  how  they  are  wanted  by  the  churches  everywhere 
to  tell  what  they  have  seen  and  heard  at  the  front.  It  is  well  said  by  another,  ‘  We  are 
entering  upon  the  second  stage  of  missionary  work  and  readjustment  must  come,  but  the 
solution  will  not  be  discovered  by  a  mass-meeting  of  pastors  of  American  churches  or 
through  the  discussions  of  secretaries  at  the  home  offices.  Personal  inspection  of  the  fields 
by  intelligent  experts  is  needed.’  ” 

The  heartiest  commendation  can  be  given  to  the  practical  value  of  the 
Japanese  deputation  sent  in  1895,  which  was  without  expense  to  the  Board. 
It  is  also  a  pleasure  to  state  that  at  an  early  date  Dr.  Barton  is  expected  to 
visit  India.  While  we  wish  to  use  all  possible  economy  of  expenditure,  I 
believe  the  cost  of  Dr.  Smith’s  recent  visit  to  China,  and  of  Dr.  Barton’s  pro¬ 
posed  visit  to  India  will  bring  large  returns  directly  and  indirectly  in  the 
future  work  of  the  Board. 

The  second  point  relates  to  the  “  Forward  Movement ,”  so  called,  urging 
churches  to  such  increased  offerings  as  would  give  many  of  them  their  own 
missionary.  This  is  not  a  movement  outside  of  the  Board  but  is  a  branch  of 
its  own  work  and  carried  on  in  full  sympathy  with  it.  There  is  great  inspi¬ 
ration  to  any  individual  or  to  any  church  to  know  who  its  personal  represen¬ 
tative  is  at  the  front.  There  is  a  definiteness  in  the  interest  and  a  definite¬ 
ness  in  the  prayer  which  is  worth  much. 

The  Presbyterian  Board,  as  is  well  known,  has  made  very  much  of  this 
plan,  and  believes  heartily  in  it.  Yet  I  found  a  year  and  a  half  ago,  in  talk¬ 
ing  with  one  of  their  secretaries,  that  there  are  some  difficulties  which  they 
have  to  guard  against,  and  we  shall  be  obliged  to  do  the  same  as  time  goes 
on.  The  Advisory  Committee  and  Mr.  Wishard,  who  is  so  earnestly  and  so 
ably  representing  the  Board  in  this  work,  are  fully  conscious  of  them.  We  do 
not  want  what  has  been  called  “  over-specialization.”  But  within  proper  lim¬ 
itations  I  hope  the  movement  will  be  continued,  not  by  churches  only,  but 
especially  by  individual  laymen  in  large  numbers. 

I  believe  especial  care  should  be  taken  that  where  churches  assume  the 
support  of  a  pastor  in  the  foreign  field,  they  shall  not  absorb  that  which  has 
been  given  by  the  women  to  their  distinctive  work.  The  Woman’s  Boards  are 
a  branch,  and  a  most  important  one,  of  the  American  Board,  and  anything 
which  cripples  them  in  their  work  would  be  a  calamity.  To  prevent  any  pos¬ 
sible  misunderstanding,  that  should  hinder  Mr.  Wishard  in  the  work  that  he 
is  doing,  I  would  say  that  he  is  in  full  sympathy  with  the  above  statement. 

OUR  MISSIONARIES. 

I  do  not  wish  to  present  this  address  without  recognizing  in  a  very  defi¬ 
nite  way  our  missionaries  all  over  the  world,  who  in  a  special  sense  are  fight¬ 
ing  our  battles  for  us.  If  there  are  any  persons  in  this  world  who  are  entitled 
to  our  deepest  sympathy  and  love,  they  are  the  brave  men  and  women  who 
have  gone  away  from  home  and  friends  and  many  comforts  to  hold  up  the 
cross  of  Christ  in  the  dark  places  of  the  earth.  It  will  always  be  a  great 
pleasure  to  me  that  some  of  these  missionaries  were  at  home  on  a  furlough, 
and  that  I  could  take  them  by  the  hand  at  Providence.  The  words  which 
they  spoke  then  and  since  have  been  most  encouraging.  I  wish  to  say  to  all 

16 


our  missionaries  in  the  whole  world,  that,  in  common  with  so  many  others, 
you  will  be  very  frequently  in  our  thoughts  and  prayers.  I  believe  we  are 
coming  to  a  new  day  when  it  will  not  be  necessary  for  the  Board  to  ask  you  to 
cut  down  every  item  to  its  lowest  terms,  and  hold  you  back  in  new  work,  but 
there  will  be  such  an  increase  of  gifts  that  you  can  be  allowed  to  press  for¬ 
ward,  as  you  are  very  eager  to  do,  to  the  fields  that  are  yet  unoccupied,  and  that 
are  waiting  ready  for  the  message  of  light.  I  believe  the  churches  are  now  to 
follow  up  their  prayers  in  a  more  liberal  way.  I  am  reminded  of  a  hard- 
headed  New  England  farmer  who  was  asked  one  day  by  one  of  his  neighbors 
to  pray  for  a  poor  widow.  His  reply  was,  “  I  will  send  my  prayers  in  a  cart, 
and  before  night  he  made  his  promise  good  with  a  load  of  provisions.  So  we 
in  America  hope  and  expect  not  to  pray  less,  but  to  provide  more.  May  God’s 
richest  blessings  be  upon  you,  every  one ! 

RESULTS. 

There  are  two  phases  of  missionary  work  to  which  at  this  time  I  can  only 
briefly  allude  and  yet  they  are  most  important  and  most  inspiring.  I  refer 
first ,  to  the  wonderful  results  already  wrought  in  heathen  lands  in  the  less  than 
a  century  since  this  Board  was  organized.  And  these  results  are  to  be  meas¬ 
ured  not  only  by  the  number  of  converts,  the  pupils  in  the  schools,  etc.,  but 
by  what  has  been  accomplished  in  the  undermining  of  the  hold  which  false 
religions  have  had  upon  the  people,  and  the  consequent  rapid  preparation 
which  has  been  going  on  everywhere  for  the  universal  acceptance  of  Chris¬ 
tianity.  Following  the  missionary  closely,  come  the  railroad  and  the  telegraph 
and  the  new  ideas  of  Western  civilization.  As  a  result,  the  old  religions  of 
the  East  are  fast  losing  their  hold  upon  the  people,  and  Christianity  is  march¬ 
ing  on  to  triumph.  The  success  of  missionary  work  is  to  be  the  chief  perma¬ 
nent  glory  of  the  Nineteenth  Century. 

Second,  we  should  notice  the  reflex  value  to  America  of  our  foreign  mis¬ 
sionary  work.  Not  only  has  it  broadened  our  sympathies,  and  inspired  us 
in  our  home  work,  but  it  can  be  shown  that  this  work  has  become  a  large  asset 
in  the  nation’s  wealth  and  prosperity.  It  is  the  missionary  who  has  practically 
been  the  pioneer  in  opening  up  many  new  markets  for  America’s  manufac¬ 
turers.  It  is  stated  that  a  large  cargo  recently  went  from  Boston  to  Honolulu, 
containing  furniture,  musical  instruments,  etc.,  merchandise  wanted  only  by  a 
civilized  community,  and  the  profit  of  that  single  cargo  to  the  shippers  was 
a  sum  equal  to  one-tenth  of  the  whole  cost  of  the  missions  to  the  Sandwich 
Islands !  If  the  skeptical  would  look  at  the  facts,  they  would  not  so  often 
sneer ;  if  Christians  would  keep  the  facts  more  clearly  in  mind,  their  gifts 
would  be  more  generous.  We  are  not  working  in  a  lost  cause,  we  are  on  the 
winning  side. 

PERSONAL  APPEAL. 

And  this  leads  me  to  my  final  thought  of  a  special  appeal  to  the  business 
men  of  the  country  for  a  new  interest  in  missions.  As  one  of  you,  I  am  sure 
we  can  come  very  close  together  in  sympathy.  Modern  methods  and  changed 
conditions  have  made  a  revolution  in  business  in  the  past  few  years.  Compe- 


17 


tition  is  fierce ;  the  strain  and  pressure  are  exhausting.  It  is  a  “  strenuous 
life.”  Such  a  surcharged  worldly  atmosphere  is  full  of  peril  to  our  Christian 
characters.  What  shall  save  us  ?  To  consecrate  our  business  more  than  ever 
to  God,  and  to  so  increase  our  gifts  that  we  shall  have  our  own  personal  repre¬ 
sentative  in  some  far-off  land,  preaching  the  gospel  in  our  stead.  Business, 
life  itself,  will  then  have  a  new  meaning. 

For  nearly  a  century  the  Board  has  been  sending  out  into  the  darkness 
with  the  light  of  life  some  of  the  bravest  men  and  women  the  world  has  ever 
known.  They  have  faced  peril  and  famine  and  pestilence  and  war,  not  only 
with  courage,  but  with  joy  that  they  were  counted  worthy  thus  to  suffer. 
There  is  no  story  so  glorious  as  that  of  the  heroism  of  missions.  The  writer 
of  the  Hebrews  left  a  record  of  the  great  worthies  in  the  past  and  laid  down 
his  pen.  But  God  has  carried  on  the  record  through  the  centuries  with  the 
names  brought  up  to  this  hour,  and  many  of  our  missionaries  will  be  found  in 
that  list  when  the  record  stands  completed  by  the  final  victory  of  the  cross. 
When  the  reveille  sounds  in  the  resurrection  morn,  and  that  grand  list  is  read, 
what  an  honor  to  be  counted  among  the  number  !  Can  our  names  be  there  ? 
Years  ago  a  young  man  in  Boston  was  so  moved  by  a  missionary  address  that 
he  gave  himself  to  that  work.  He  had  not  the  gift  to  teach  or  preach,  but 
none  the  less  was  he  a  missionary.  He  lived  frugally,  and  for  many  years 
gave  money  enough  to  support  a  missionary  at  the  front.  Out  of  an  income  of 
-$1,500  he  sometimes  gave  more  than  $1,000  to  such  work.  If  our  own  names 
can  have  no  place,  we  can  have  our  parttier's  there,  the  one  whom  we  sent, 
and  methinks  the  Master  will  recognize  in  some  sense  the  oneness  of  the  work. 

It  may  mean  sacrifice.  But  that  is  just  the  reason  I  urge  it.  Mazzini 
was  right  when  he  said,  “No  appeal  is  quite  so  powerful  in  the  end  as  the 
call,  ‘  Come  and  suffer.’  ”  Lieutenant  Hobson  found  no  difficulty  in  getting 
volunteers,  even  though  the  men  knew  it  was  almost  certain  death.  It  may 
call  us  to  give  up  some  of  our  pleasures,  some  of  our  ease,  but  it  is  a  small 
life  that  will  not  respond  to  its  fullest  ability  in  this  crisis  of  the  world.  Is 
not  the  opportunity  to  share  in  the  final  victories  worth  any  cost  ?  There  is 
not  an  angel  in  heaven  that  would  not  speed  in  his  flight  if  he  could  have  our 
chance  for  service  and  sacrifice. 


LEGACIES. 

As  a  part  of  this  “  personal  appeal,”  I  would  like  to  allude  to  the  privi¬ 
lege  which  God’s  favored  ones  have  of  leaving  legacies  to  the  great  missionary 
work  of  our  churches.  When  our  feet  touch  for  the  first  time  the  streets  of 
the  celestial  city,  and  we  begin  to  see  what  “  God  hath  prepared  for  those  who 
love  him,”  will  it  not  be  a  joy  in  that  hour  if  we  have  left  behind  us  some  gifts 
which  shall  continue  to  be  used  for  his  kingdom  ?  Recently,  a  gentleman 
became  so  much  interested  in  the  “  common  sense  ”  of  the  new  “  Forward 
Movement,”  that  he  not  only  pledged  $800  for  the  yearly  salary  of  a  mission¬ 
ary  to  represent  him,  but  he  promised  also  to  leave  a  fund,  at  his  death,  which 
should  continue  to  pay  for  such  a  representative  for  all  the  future,  until  time 
shall  end  in  eternity.  He  is  putting  his  money,  not  into  bricks  and  mortar, 

18 


but  into  pulsing,  throbbing  life.  What  will  be  the  joy  of  that  man  in  the 
heavenly  mansions  to  know  that  his  representative  is  still  out  on  the  fighting 
line,  and  when  he  drops  out  of  the  ranks  there  is  another  volunteer  ready  for 
the  place  !  Everything  in  heaven  will  be  made  the  more  glad  because  of  it. 

When  a  rich  man  dies  and  leaves  his  wealth  for  the  public  weal,  how  the 
world  rejoices !  Hospitals,  and  libraries,  and  colleges  are  being  splendidly 
endowed  and  made  permanent.  Let  the  children  of  God  be  as  true  to  their 
great  missions,  and  help  to  make  permanent  our  work  in  all  the  world. 

There  is  one  phase  of  the  foreign  missionary  work  which  is  most  attrac¬ 
tive,  and  appeals  to  men  and  women  of  moderate  means,  when  they  are  seri¬ 
ously  facing  the  future.  Because  of  the  moderate  cost  of  living  in  the  East,  a 
few  thousand  dollars,  left  either  for  the  general  work  or  for  some  special 
mission,  will  go  as  far  as  many  times  that  amount  left  for  work  at  home.  I 
always  rejoice  in  reading  the  records  of  a  will  to  find  all  our  societies  and  all 
parts  of  our  work  represented.  It  speaks  of  breadth  and  loyalty.  But  if, 
because  the  dollar  goes  so  much  farther  than  in  some  phase  of  the  home  work, 
foreign  missions  has  a  large  place  in  the  will,  shall  we  not  feel  that  the  man 
has  been  wise  ?  When  we  pen  the  missionary  clauses  in  our  wills,  we  can  feel 
sure  that  the  Master’s  face  is  bending  over  us  with  his  approval. 

CONCLUSION. 

We  have  recently  held  in  Boston  the  Second  International  Council. 
With  the  greatness  of  that  council  and  what  it  has  wrought  for  good  we  are 
all  familiar.  But  I  believe  its  chief  glory  will,  in  future  years,  be  found  to 
be  the  new  inspiration  it  has  given  to  our  missionary  work.  If,  as  has  been 
prophesied,  “  America  is  destined  to  be  the  head  steward  in  the  great  house¬ 
hold  of  the  world,”  she  is  to  show  that  in  her  new  devotion  to  missionary 
work.  There  seems  to  be  already  a  new  purpose  finding  expression  in  many 
ways. 

With  the  improved  business  outlook  in  our  country  we  should  be  expect¬ 
ing  larger  gifts.  In  fact,  I  do  not  see  how  we  can  go  on  as  we  have  gone  in 
the  last  few  years,  closing  outstations,  calling  in  helpers,  retreating  before 
the  enemy.  Do  you  ask  my  reason  for  this  expectation  ?  Let  me  tell  you  an 
incident  of  our  late  spring  in  our  own  New  England.  The  winter  continued 
very  late,  and  the  ground  was  covered  with  snow.  The  brooks  were  frozen, 
and  the  farmers  were  in  distress.  One  of  them  spoke  with  his  neighbor 
Leavitt  as  he  rode  by  and  said,  “  I  do  not  know  what  we  are  going  to  do.  I 
have  fed  out  all  my  fodder  to  the  cattle,  and  they  are  beginning  to  suffer. 
There  is  no  sign  of  a  breaking  up.”  “  Well,”  said  neighbor  Leavitt,  “  I  see  a 
great  sign  of  an  early  spring.”  “  Do  you,  though  ?  I  have  not  seen  any, 
and  I  have  been  on  the  lookout.  What  is  your  sign  ?  ”  “I  see  a  great  sign  of 
an  eaily  breakup  because  I  do  not  see  how  we  can  get  along  without  it.” 
And  sure  enough,  in  a  few  days,  the  cattle  were  cropping  the  sweet  grass  that 
had  grown  underneath  the  snow,  and  the  streams  were  running  again  to  the 
ocean.  Because  “we  don’t  see  how  we  can  get  along  without  it,”  can  we  not 
feel  that  there  is  a  promise  of  something  better  ? 


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The  signs  point  already  to  an  awakened  interest  all  over  our  country, 
which  is  to  gather  new  force  with  every  month.  With  better  organization 
to  secure  universal  cooperation,  and  with  the  new  enthusiasm  already 
aroused,  wealth  as  never  before  is  to  recognize  not  its  duty  but 
its  supreme  opportunity,  and  the  standard  of  the  cross  will  within 
this  generation  be  raised  in  every  province  of  the  world.  We  are  to 
move  so  steadily  forward  that  it  will  be  said  of  this  grand  Board : 

“  Where  the  vanguard  rests  today, 

The  rear  shall  rest  tomorrow.” 

I  am  glad  to  add  that  the  general  plan,  as  herein  outlined,  has  the  hearty 
approval  of  our  Vice-president,  D.  Willis  James,  and  he  has  permitted  me  to 
add  his  endorsement. 

Believing  that  this  address  would  have  very  much  added  weight  if  it 
could  be  accepted  as  an  expression  of  the  united  policy  of  all  officials  of  the 
Board,  I  have  withheld  its  publication  until  I  could  ascertain  their  judgment 
in  the  matter.  With  this  in  mind  it  has  been  read  to  the  Prudential  Com¬ 
mittee  and  the  Executive  Officers  in  Boston,  and  the  plan  for  substance  has 
been  considered  by  the  cooperating  committees  in  Boston,  New  York,  Chicago 
and  the  Pacific  coast.  I  take  pleasure  in  saying  that  the  plan  for  work  as 
outlined  has  the  approval  of  all.  For  the  minor  points  considered,  the  writer 
must  be  held  responsible. 

May  our  Lord  and  Master,  without  whose  help  all  plans  are  valueless, 
add  his  blessing ! 

Faithfully  yours, 

SAMUEL  B.  CAPEN. 


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